David Marshall is determined not to join Scotland’s list of stars never to feature at an international tournament.
The Derby goalkeeper has been around the international setup for 16 years, since making his debut as a Celtic youngster back in 2004.
After a period out of the side under Alex McLeish, Marshall was been Steve Clarke’s undisputed number one and was the penalty hero in the play-off win over Israel in October.
Victory over Serbia in Belgrade tomorrow night would guarantee Scotland a place at the European Championships next year, in what would be their first tournament since 1998.
Marshall points to the links of James McFadden, Darren Fletcher and Scott Brown as top-level international players who never got to pull on the jersey at a major tournament.
How it started. How it’s going. pic.twitter.com/iw3DVhJQFY
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) November 9, 2020
He said: “That would mean the world to me. Of course it would. Everyone in the squad would say the exact same thing.
“There have been so many good squads and top players going through them that have not got to a tournament. Look at Fletch, Scott Brown, Barry Ferguson and I can go back to people like David Weir, who was in the ’98 squad.
“But people like Faddy and Maloney did not get the chance to get to tournaments. It is just the time we have been away from it means it will be such a big thing in anyone’s career – but certainly mine – to get there.”
Marshall, 35, has been joined by another experienced head in the camp this time, with veteran Hearts stopper Craig Gordon earning a recall to join him and Jon McLaughlin.
Despite having a difficult period where he was not an automatic pick for Scotland, Marshall never contemplated throwing in the towel on his international career.
He added: “Obviously, I had a long time as number one under Gordon Strachan. So that was probably the most difficult time because I never played for a while after that.
“I thought at that time there was no need to change. But in international football if you’re not playing at club level then that makes it difficult for international manager to pick for you.
“We went through a stage under Gordon when the results weren’t good enough and he changed quite a lot of players, I think for the England game at Wembley. Then when we went on a good run again. So it can change quickly at international level.
“The retirement thing has never really crossed my mind, as yet. So, I’m just playing away and trying to get to as good a level as I can at club football. I always thought I could get back to playing for Scotland again.”
